I am not sure this is the best place to post this but could not find a Northwood specific heading on this site. I am aware of the Nash web site but wanted to start here so here goes:

We just purchased a 2005 Arctic Fox Silver Fox 27-5L which looked pretty good inside and out and all systems tested out. Once we got it home and I started going over it in detail I noticed two places where the fiberglass sidewall is starting to pull away. Not major, yet, but I assume it will get worse if not corrected.

I sent an email to Northwood last night asking for help in locating a qualified repair person so we will see if I get a response.

The reason for this post is I was wondering if anyone else has experience with Northwood sidewall problems and what they did to get them fixed.

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I am not sure this is the best place to post this but could not find a Northwood specific heading on this site. I am aware of the Nash web site but wanted to start here so here goes:

We just purchased a 2005 Arctic Fox Silver Fox 27-5L which looked pretty good inside and out and all systems tested out. Once we got it home and I started going over it in detail I noticed two places where the fiberglass sidewall is starting to pull away. Not major, yet, but I assume it will get worse if not corrected.

I sent an email to Northwood last night asking for help in locating a qualified repair person so we will see if I get a response.

The reason for this post is I was wondering if anyone else has experience with Northwood sidewall problems and what they did to get them fixed.

Try afnash.com a world of info on that Northwood specific site....
Housted

Tried the various searches and results were thin. I plan to take the rig to a local RV repair guy that we have used before with good results and hear what he has to say.

Going through the paperwork and documentation another question has surfaced. The owner's manual face page says 2004 whereas all the paperwork says 2005, which is what the price was based on.

Doing a search on the VIN came back as invalid VIN, which is puzzling. I sent an email to Northwood last night asking for their reading on the VIN. I have also looked everywhere on the rig and can find no VIN number. Inside, outside, on the pin box, everywhere.

Without a VIN what do we do when we want to sell or trade? Life is never simple. At least it is not boring.

Contacted Northwood via email and was promptly sent answers to my questions. Scheduled for sidewall repairs next week. To my eye the problem areas are not major so will have to wait and see what happens and the cost.

As it turns our, the previous owner apparently never did the proper routine maintenance on the roof or the caulking. Because of that water got into places it shouldn't have hence the starting of the de-lamination.

I am having a local guy I trust clean and treat the roof as well as check all the caulking to ensure no more leaks. He said the caulking should be done every season and the roof treated every several years to prevent it from failing. If you stay on top of it, it is not all that expensive. Otherwise it can be big bucks to replace a rubber roof.

The dealer I purchase the fifth from claimed they had inspected and done what needed to be done as far as checking the roof and doing whatever caulking was required. Turns out not to be the case.

Lesson learned - you need to do your own thorough inspection before putting down any money. This is the second time I have been sold a fifth that was not exactly what was advertised. IMHO you are better off buying from a private party and either hiring someone you trust to inspect or taking the time to do it right yourself.

I was lucky this time in that the work to be done is not all the expensive but if I had let it go much long it would have been. Buyer beware.

This is the first time I have heard of delam problems. That said any RV can have delam problems if not maintained properly. Glad you found the problem before it became major. FYI Arctic Fox/Nash has a owners forum at www.afnash.com if you are interested. You have a good unit their and should enjoy many years of use.

Sidewall de-lamination problems do occur but are not frequently, thankfully. It seems the most common cause is not maintaining the rubber roof to sidewall caulking which then leads to water getting in behind the sidewall.

I have also heard, but not verified, that Keystone Cougar has a problem with the fiberglass front end cap. Since I have never seen one I can't be more specific.

Bottom line, if the rig is well maintained the age does matter all that much.

The rig I recently purchased is a 2005 and my guess is it spent a ton of time in the sun, probably in the southern part of the west. Running light covers are very faded as an example. The red being almost clear.

Next step is to check the age of the tires even though they look good. I do not want to be one of those you see along side the road scratching their head saying, "now what?"